Power cuts leave hundreds without power in Sutherland amid Storm Babet gales
Hundreds of people in north-west Sutherland were without electricity on Thursday morning after three separate power cuts.
The outages came after the start of Storm Babet, with a yellow warning for gales and wind gusts of up to 80mph now in force.
It is not known if the power cuts are related to the storm, but the Met Office alert – which came into force at 3am – had warned that the north-west would experience some of the strongest winds.
A Met Office spokesman yesterday said: "Some locations over and to the lee of mountains across northwest Scotland could encounter sudden gusts in excess of 70-80 mph for a time."
The three power outages are all in the north-west, with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks' (SSEN) online "Powertrack" map showing that the largest affected area takes in hundreds of homes across an area that includes Durness, part of Kinlochbervie, Loch Eriboll, Loch Hope, and Altnaharra.
Elsewhere, another area centred on Kylesku, Unapool and Kylestrome is also reported to be experiencing power cuts.
As too is a third area to the east of Lochinver centred on Loch Druim Suardalain and encompassing Glencanisp Lodge.
Related: Storm Babet gales spark cancellations of CalMac's Ullapool passenger ferries
The outage near Lochinver was reported shortly before 7.30pm on Wednesday night. SSEN said engineers were on site and hoping to restore power by midday on Thursday.
The outage centred on Kylesku, meanwhile, was reported shortly after 6am on Thursday. At the time of writing SSEN said it hoped to restore power by 1pm, but engineers had yet to arrive on site at the time of writing.
The largest area affected by a power cut, which includes Durness, Altnaharra and part of Kinlochbervie, was reported at 3.04am on Thursday. Engineers are on site, and SSEN said it hopes to restore power by 9am.
For the atest information, visit https://powertrack.ssen.co.uk.
